ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS TOWARDS UTILISATION OF LABORATORY METHOD FOR SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN ENUGU EDUCATION ZONE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the utilization of laboratory method for Chemistry curriculum implementation in secondary schools in Enugu education zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. The study focused on the attitude of teachers of Chemistry towards the usage of laboratory method in the implementation of Chemistry curriculum, and the barriers to effective use of laboratory method in the implementation of the same curriculum. The study adopted quantitative paradigm, and specifically used descriptive survey research design. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. The study was anchored on Vygotsky’s Social Constructivist Learning Theory of 1978. The study targeted and studied all the 86 teachers of Chemistry in the education zone. Since the population was manageable, no sampling was done. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. For data analysis, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test statistics was used to test the hypothesis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics 21) aided in the analysis of the data. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers of Chemistry had negative attitude towards the use of laboratory method in teaching Chemistry. More so, that lack of laboratory materials posed hitch to the utilisation of laboratory method. The study concludes that the negative attitude of teachers towards laboratory method translated to the poor performance that students recorded in their standardised examinations. The study therefore recommended that principals should encourage teachers of Chemistry through seminars, conferences, and workshops on the need for the utilisation of laboratory method in the implementation of Chemistry curriculum for improved students’ performance.